Fishing Industry on the Front Lines of Climate Change
Above: Tracey Wallace photo
The temperature is rising in the Atlantic Ocean, both on the sea surface and in deep waters, giving the fishing industry a front row seat to the impact of climate change.
“We find it’s impacting virtually every day. That’s an exaggeration, but we’ve seen frequency of storms and severity of storms we’ve never seen before over the past three years in particular,” says Stewart Lamont, managing director of the Tangier Lobster Company Limited...
Development of SmartNet Fishing Trawl System by Katchi Technologies Continuing
A SmartNet fishing trawl system that eliminates contact with the ocean floor, reduces greenhouse emissions and the loss of gear is expected to be ready for commercial sales in 2024.
Katchi Technologies Inc. of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia has been developing the system for several years now. Founded by Marc d’Entremont, the idea behind the SmartNet system is to eliminate the use of traditional trawl doors by using a set of hydrodynamic blocks to open and fly the net in the water column, enabling ...
Charting Her Own Course: Lobstering with Lunenburg Harvester Gail Atkinson
Gail Atkinson is one of Canada’s very few female lobster harvesters, who employs an almost entirely female crew aboard the Nellie Row.
Gail Atkinson grew up on Cape Sable Island in Southwest Nova Scotia. Coming from a long line of fish harvesters and boat builders, she originally had no desire to follow in her family’s footsteps.
“I ended up starting fishing with my father,” said Atkinson. “I started when I was a little bit older because I couldn’t wait to get out of there. ...
Port au Choix Shrimp Plant Changes Hands
Economic hardship and a severe reduction in shrimp landings have forced Ocean Choice International (OCI) to consolidate its holdings and sell off a shrimp processing plant in Port au Choix, Newfoundland and Labrador to Barry Group Inc.
“The last three years have been very difficult in the shrimp business, and it hasn’t been economically viable,” said Martin Sullivan, CEO and Co-Chair of OCI. “The business has seen such a big decline in raw material volumes over the last number of ...
Implementation of Treaty-Based Fishing Rights Continuing
The implementation of Treaty-based fishing rights for First Nations in the Maritimes and Québec is continuing through Moderate Livelihood Understandings and Rights Reconciliation Agreements with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
“Second only to conservation is our responsibility to work with First Nations to further implement right-related fisheries,” said Michael Leonard, DFO’s Director of Indigenous Fisheries Management, Maritimes Region, during a technical briefing this summer on ...
The NLGIDC Wants to Catch More Cod
After an incredible year of catches for the stewardship cod fishery, the Newfoundland and Labrador Groundfish Industry Development Council (NLGIDC) is asking for more cod — 4,000 more tonnes, to be exact.
The NLGIDC is a collaboration of harvesters through the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) and a number of processors including Beothic Fish Processors Limited, Barry Group Inc., the Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Co. and the Fogo Island Co-operative Society.
Between the ...
Wildfire Creates Havoc as Lobster Season Ends in Southwestern N.S.
Above: The good a nuff 1 steams into Clark’s Harbour on Cape Sable Island during the closing days of the southwestern Nova Scotia lobster fishery. Kathy Johnson photo
Things went from bad to worse for some lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia as the six-month commercial lobster season was coming to a close on May 31.
For more than a week, an out-of-control wildfire raged through the heart of Shelburne County burning more than 24,000 hectares, forcing the evacuation of ...
U.S. Company Providing Ropeless Gear Options for Fishermen
Above: Puget Buoy CEO Dylan Diefendorf (left) and COO Evan Kim showcasing a Puget Buoy product.
photos submitted by Dylan Diefendorf
Seattle-based Puget Buoy is trying to bring cost-effective, fast, durable and compact ropeless fishing tech to the commercial fishery.
As one of many different sorts of ropeless fishing gear appearing on the market, Puget Buoy’s goals align with their contemporaries — in the age of fisheries closures due to whale safety, ropeless technologies ...
Challenging Season Winding Down in LFA 33/34
Above: The Ryer Lake II and the Sonia Dianne steam into the Falls Point wharf in Woods Harbour after a day on the lobster fishing grounds in LFA 34. Kathy Johnson photos
With a month to go before the traps come ashore, low landings were still being reported in lobster fishing areas (LFAs) 33 and 34.
“There’s nothing to write home about this season,” says Tommy Amirault, president of the Coldwater Lobster Association. “It’s been a tough go this spring.”
Going into ...
Snow Crab Stalemate – Price Dispute Shuts Down Valuable N.L. Fishery
A price of $2.20 per pound for snow crab is not sitting well with Newfoundland and Labrador fish harvesters, with the majority showing a willingness to sit this crab season out if prices don’t change.
Harvesters are saying that fishing at $2.20 is unaffordable. This attitude towards the current economic climate was made abundantly clear at a recent rally held at the Confederation Building, Newfoundland’s seat of government, by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW).
The ...
